The series follows June Colburn as she moves from Indiana to New York City to pursue her dream job – until she finds out that it no longer exists, and she ends up moving in with a con-artist party-girl named Chloe. The two don't get along at first; however, when Chloe's attempts at scamming June backfire, they end up forming an unlikely friendship.

Krysten Ritter as Chloe, the eponymous "Bitch in Apartment 23". She is an amoral and shameless con artist, party girl, alcoholic, freeloader, and swindler described as having "the morals of a pirate," who becomes June's roommate. After first attempting to run her "roommate scam" on June by convincing her to pay several months' rent in advance before driving her out of the apartment, Chloe eventually comes to welcome her after June proves capable of turning Chloe's scams back on her. Chloe, who usually finds other women boring, discovers that she genuinely likes June and tries to be both protective and helpful in her own borderline sociopathic ways (such as slipping June illegal Chinese pharmaceuticals to help her "loosen up" and turning June's small homemade jam business into a lucrative internet porn site). Chloe's only steady work is "providing entertainment" to diplomats at the United Nations once a year, during which she pays her share of rent for the year, while in the meantime running day-to-day scams to provide her with free food, free drinks, and spending money. Her scams have gotten her in trouble with the law more than once.

Dreama Walker as June Colburn, who moves to New York (from Indiana) when her dream job at a mortgage company provides her with a huge apartment. However, on her very first day, the company is shut down when the owner is arrested for stealing millions of dollars in a Ponzi scheme and the apartment building is sealed, leaving June desperate for a job and another place to live. She ends up moving in with Chloe. June is optimistic, trusting, and tries to be honest and friendly with everyone she meets, which often lead her to be taken advantage of by more cynical New Yorkers, including her own roommate. She tries to be tolerant to Chloe's reckless lifestyle and tries to find her place in New York because she is too ashamed to return to her Indiana hometown over losing her job and career and facing her overbearing parents. She works as a barista at a local coffee shop for most of the series, but is eventually hired as a junior analyst for a Wall Street firm.

James Van Der Beek as a fictionalized version of himself, the former TV star of Dawson's Creek, who is a good friend of Chloe's and desperate to revamp his sagging acting career. As a parody of himself, he is arrogant, self-centered, and shamelessly self-promoting as he takes on increasingly bizarre roles to revitalize his career, culminating in a stint on Dancing With the Stars. He uses his influence amongst the now-thirtysomething demographic of female Dawson's Creek fans to get ahead personally and professionally, and he allows Chloe to name-drop him to advance her own scams. In spite of this, he is the person who seems to know Chloe best, and he seems genuinely invested in seeing Chloe and June's friendship succeed, often giving them both advice on how to handle one another's quirks.

Eric André as Mark Reynolds, who would have been June's supervisor at the mortgage company. He becomes manager of a local coffee shop within four hours of losing his job and hires June.

Ray Ford as Luther Wilson (season 2; recurring previously),[note 1] an effeminate man and personal assistant to James Van Der Beek. Luther and Chloe have a rocky relationship: Luther once denied Chloe money for rent and Chloe wouldn't read Luther's screenplay. He is extremely devoted to James and believes wholeheartedly in James' inevitable comeback. To that end he gladly micromanages James' life to the smallest detail, even as James takes advantage of him. He also demonstrates a stronger moral center than most of the main cast, which leads him to becoming closer to June as the seasons progress.

Michael Blaiklock as Eli Webber, the peeping-tom next-door neighbor who spies on the girls through a window across an alleyway. He works as a city health inspector. In spite of being a self-proclaimed pervert, Eli is hard-working and successful in his own limited field, often offers solid advice to June from his window across the alley, and is grateful for Chloe's casual lack of concern for his peeping-tom tendencies.

Liza Lapira as Robin (season 1; recurring season 2),[note 2][3] one of Chloe's former roommates, who was swindled like the others and now lives in the apartment down the hall, where she tries to warn potential roommates "don't trust the bitch in Apartment 23" before they make the same mistake. In spite of this, she is still obsessed with Chloe to the point of stalking her. Robin works as a nurse in a local hospital.

The series was originally titled Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 and was developed at Fox as a 2009 fall contender, but was eventually passed on.[5][6] In January 2011, ABC green-lit the production of a pilot episode.[6] In February and March 2011, Dreama Walker, Krysten Ritter, and James Van Der Beek were cast as the three leads. On May 13, 2011, ABC picked up the project to series under the shortened title Apartment 23.[7] A few days later, ABC announced that the show would most likely debut in the 2011–12 mid-season.[8]

On October 11, 2011, ABC again renamed the show, this time to a bowdlerized version of its original name, censoring the word "Bitch" and replaced with "B----".[9]

The first two episodes were made available on iTunes, Hulu,[10]ABC.com,[11] and on Xfinity in the United States before the premiere on April 11, 2012.[12][13] In Canada, the first episodes were made available on Rogers on Demand and on Citytv.com,[14][15] also before the April 11, 2012 premiere. On May 11, 2012, Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 was renewed for a second season, with the remaining six episodes of season one airing as a part of it.[16] The second season premiered on October 23, 2012.

ABC announced on January 22, 2013, that it was removing Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 from its schedule immediately.[17] The next day, the cast of the show confirmed its cancellation.[18] On April 18, 2013, ABC announced that the remaining eight unaired episodes would be streamed online beginning May 17[19] and ending June 2.[20]

In July 2014, it was announced that Logo TV had acquired the full run of the series—including the eight episodes that were previously unaired in the United States—and would air it in the correct order beginning July 19.[21]

June (Dreama Walker) narrates at the open about how living in New York has taught her that life is full of surprises. Chloe (Krysten Ritter) comes home to find June's fiancé Steven alone, and they fool around. June walks in to see them having sex on her birthday cake. June then says that her roommate sleeping with her fiancé turned out to be the best thing that happened to her. A week earlier, June gets a job at a financial mortgage company and moves to New York, while Steven finishes up his master's degree. The company goes under on the first day and June is out of a job. She also learns that her apartment has been seized by the government. She then meets and is instantly taken with fun and charming Chloe. While talking, June notices a picture of James Van Der Beek in Chloe's apartment and is told that Chloe and James once dated, but were now great friends. June decides that she wants to move in, even though, while waiting for the elevator, Chloe's neighbor Robin warns her: "don't trust the bitch in Apartment 23". June moves in with Chloe and the warning turns out to be good advice, as Chloe plots to scam her out of her rent money. June retaliates by selling all of Chloe's stuff. Steven arrives for June's birthday and Chloe is instantly suspicious of him. She learns that Steven is cheating on June with multiple women. She tries to tell June, who automatically thinks it is a ploy to get her to leave the apartment. Chloe decides to seduce Steven. After getting caught, she explains to June that she only did it to prove Steven was a cheater. Although sad, June thanks Chloe for helping her learn about Steven before she might have married him. They bond and discover the beginning of an unusual friendship.

Following June's breakup with Steven, Chloe sets her up with a guy she believes is perfect for her. The two of them hit it off, until June finds out he is Chloe's father who recently separated from Chloe's mother. Things get even more complicated when Chloe's wheel chair bound mother stops by in distress suspecting that her husband is cheating on her. Meanwhile James decides to teach an acting class at New York University, but he is unable to get his students interested in anything other than his Dawson's Creek days finding himself typecast.

When June—who is juggling an unpaid internship with her job at the coffee shop—accuses Chloe of being selfish and irresponsible, Chloe adopts a foster daughter and hires her as her personal assistant. James lands a role in a film opposite Kiernan Shipka.

June is depressed when she receives a wedding invitation addressed to her and her ex-fiancé Steven. Chloe decides to take June around the city and teach her how to be confident. However, Chloe becomes jealous over the budding relationship between June and James.

Chloe encourages June to have casual sex with the coffee-shop customer she is attracted to "Soy Latte Guy". June decides Chloe's right and has her first one – night stand. However, after "Soy Latte Guy" loses his grandfathers parrot he gets upset and becomes emotionally attached to June. When Chloe finds out June's dating "Soy Latte Guy" she insists June dump him. James freaks out when a copy of an old sex tape of him and Chloe falls into the hands of a porn distributor. After consulting with June's mother James decides the sex tape will be great publicity but upon rewatching it with Robin finds that he licked his lips way too much.

June struggles to keep up with Chloe's fast-paced lifestyle, ending up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning. She also discovers that Chloe is the subject of a graphic novel popular in Japan called Tall Slut, No Panties. James freaks out when he learns that Dean Cain has a bigger dressing room when both compete on Dancing with the Stars.

On May 11, 2012, ABC renewed Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 for a second season.[29] The remaining six episodes of season one (with production codes beginning 1A in the table) aired as part of season two bringing the total to nineteen episodes for the season.[30] ABC elected to air these episodes out of order, interspersing first and second season episodes without regard to continuity. As a result, some multi-episode plot arcs (particularly James' appearance on Dancing With The Stars and June's travails at a new job outside the coffee shop) are almost incomprehensibly jumbled in the original broadcast order.

Ray Ford, who plays Luther, was promoted to a series regular for season two.[31]Liza Lapira was originally announced as having been demoted to a recurring role; ultimately she appeared in only one episode ("Dating Games...") that was produced for the second season.

Although series star Krysten Ritter originally stated that ABC was committed to airing the eight unaired episodes in the summer of 2013,[32] she later confirmed that the show would not return to ABC's schedule, but that all eight episodes would be made available on ABC.com, iTunes and Hulu on May 17, 2013.[33] The additional episodes have since been removed from Hulu, without announcement. It was later announced that the episodes would air on Logo TV Network in July 2014.[34]

After James receives a letter from the cast of Dawson's Creek cast, telling him that they are always open for a reunion episode, June sets out to make the reunion episode happen. This is until Chloe tells June that she has been the one sending the letter for the past 10 years. After Chloe confesses everything to James, he sets out on his own and calls all the cast members, only for all of them to reject him because of something he did when the show ended. After a talk with Mark Paul-Gosselaar, James realizes that he should put Dawson's Creek behind him, and focus on the future. Meanwhile, June tells her former friends, all fans of the show, of the reunion only to discover they've all moved on to better lives and realizes she is still living in the past. Busy Philipps, who co-starred in Dawson's Creek with James Van Der Beek, guest stars as a fictionalized version of herself.[35]

James, who is terrified of most Halloween-related things, throws an annual "positivity party" on Halloween. June finds out that Chloe is dating a man named Benjamin and is happy to see her friend in a real relationship until she learns the truth: Every year at one of these parties Chloe picks one person who she considers a "loser" and ruins their lives. She has found the perfect target by pretending to love Benjamin only to leave him thinking of his mother, who left when he was seven, by making him think of her as his mother. Benjamin reveals that he got wind of her trick through James and has been pulling the same trick on her by having her live her life as if it were a chick flick.

June awaits People magazine's announcement of their "Sexiest Man Alive" list. When she says that James isn't sexy enough to make the cut, Chloe insists that June is just a People magazine follower—she'll admire whoever makes the cover, regardless of how she felt before. To prove her point, she takes over People Magazine (by walking into the offices, saying that she is the new managing editor, and firing people) and puts James on the cover. Chloe and James agree to mess with June, while June tries to avoid admitting that she now finds James sexy. In the end, James doesn't make the cover and Chloe goes back to People to find out that a woman named Margery picks the man every year – though James does get a photo spread in the magazine.

Chloe and June have different thoughts about Thanksgiving. Since, June can't afford to fly home for Thanksgiving, Chloe persuades her to come to her parents' house for Thanksgiving, but June begins to feel uncomfortable and awkward. Meanwhile, James volunteers a celebrity soup kitchen in order to get publicity and is unpleasantly surprised when he and Luther actually work.

Chloe teaches June to "network" (drinking in the financial district), but when Chloe lands herself a hot young broker whose father is a Wall Street mogul, she also lands June a dream job offer, although there are strings attached and June must make a tough decision. Meanwhile, James' worst nightmare comes true when he is paired with the worst pro-dancer for Dancing with the Stars.

Everyone is in a bit of a funk – June is obsessively awaiting news on a potential job and James is down on his luck after Dancing with the Stars– so Chloe drags everyone along on a weekend getaway to the Hamptons. June bumps into Mark, who is on a vacation with Jessica, at a local store. It is Chloe's mission to have the ultimate rager, crash the party of the year and hook up with the elusive host. James goes soul searching on a bender and runs into Mark who was just dumped by Jessica because she thought he was going to propose and the two of them talk out there problems and decide to go to the party. Mark tells James that he likes June after she leaves for an interview. Chloe finds that she's experienced almost everything and fears her days as a party girl are numbered. However the road to debauchery keeps taking the wrong turn down paths of reflection

June is nervous and excited about starting at Harken Financial. Mark stresses over what to write on June's going away card and their relationship and goes to James for advice. Things go surprisingly well, and she even meets an incredibly nice co-worker, Fox Paris. Chloe warns June, though, that she shouldn't be so trusting and that Fox is probably just keeping her enemies close. June finds that Fox is her enemy and after failing at fighting with niceness sends Chloe to destroy Fox. This plan quickly backfires when Chloe and Fox become fast friends. June accidentally stabs Fox and the problem resolves itself.

June and Chloe attend their first tenants' meeting after a new family moves in the building, but they make a scandalous scene and June quickly realizes that she needs to clean up Chloe's act so that they're not branded the floozies of the building. However things backfire when Chloe decides to set her sights on Mark, which is then further complicated by James' attempt to sabotage June's virtuous efforts.

June is making a real effort with Chloe to become BFFs, but Chloe is very wary because girls can be catty and manipulative, so instead June befriends a group of girls at her Pilates class who are the epitome of what Chloe detests. Meanwhile, James decides it is time to beef up his public image again and signs up to mentor an at-risk kid, but when they meet, neither of them knows what to do with the other.

June and Mark are obsessed with a reality dating show, and Chloe convinces June to go out there and actually get in the game herself. But when Chloe and June end up asking the same guy out, they get sucked into their very own pseudo dating show, with James orchestrating various dating challenges as they compete to win this man's affection.

It is crunch time and James goes into serious training to be in top form for "Dancing with the Stars." Luther is tasked with the duty of keeping James on a strict regimen, but leave it to a jealous Chloe to try and sabotage it. Still, that is the least of their worries when embarrassing photos of James leak all over the internet.

June has been so stressed and consumed with work that she has no time for anything else, including Chloe. Chloe's remedy for this is to slip June an herbal relaxant, but the next thing June knows, it is Tuesday and Monday is a complete blackout. As she tries to piece together what happened, June discovers some surprising things about herself. Meanwhile, James grapples with the idea that he may have impregnated June's friend, Crissy, on her wedding day.

21

14

"Teddy Trouble..."

Gail Mancuso

Billy Finnegan

April 8, 2013 (2013-04-08)(AUS)
August 2, 2014 (US)

2ATF06

N/A

June is startled when a man she has never seen before jumps out of a door in the apartment that she has never seen before. It is Teddy, Chloe’s childhood friend from Camp C.U.T.S. (Callous Unemotional Trait Survivors) who visits her every year when he goes off his medications. His visit coincides with the Carter Marsh Annual Warehouse Sale, where Chloe uses psycho and manic Teddy to her advantage against all the vicious out of town women at the sale. But this year, Chloe finds herself increasingly distracted by her relationship with Benjamin. Meanwhile, James is devastated when he finds out that his Beek Jeans have been relegated to the "cooling rack" at the sale where no one is buying them.

22

15

"The D..."
"Making the Grade..."

Jeffrey Walker

Jeff Chiang and Eric Ziobrowski

April 15, 2013 (2013-04-15)(AUS)
August 9, 2014 (US)

2ATF09

N/A

June receives her 1 year roommate evaluation from Chloe, in which she is shocked to find that she has been given a D. She eventually realizes that the only aspect in her life that she could possibly be slacking off in is her love life. Luther sets her up with James’ agent’s assistant, Will. The two really hit it off and bond over having to deal with a crazy person in each of their lives. For June, it’s Chloe and for Will, it’s one of his clients, Chris Spalding, a demanding novelist. It is soon revealed that Chloe is Chris Spalding. After attempting to share this information with Will, June’s plan backfires and Chloe has Will fired. June turns to James, who desperately needs Will’s help on his own projects, to help get his job back. During this time, James is struggling to land an audition for a new Woody Allen film "Monte Carlo, Monte Carla".

23

16

"The Seven Year Bitch..."

Stuart Bass

Tina Kil

April 22, 2013 (2013-04-22)(AUS)
August 16, 2014 (US)

2ATF10

N/A

James invites Chloe and June out to dinner to meet the girl he has been dating, Emily. At the dinner, Chloe after barely talking to Emily says "Veto", forcing James to break up with her. Chloe explains to June that she and James have veto power over who they each date. Chloe doesn’t want James to date anyone that will make him soft and complacent. However, she soon finds out that James has been secretly continuing to date Emily. Chloe decides that they need to take a break and end their relationship. But soon Luther and June realize that they must get the two back together after each of their lives begin to change- Chloe has begun working at a cell phone store, where she can fight with customers all day, and James has become fat, soft, and complacent.

June discovers that Chloe has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings, to share her crazy partying stories as well as take free booze from the alcoholics. Pepper sets Mark up on a date with one of her friends, and June struggles to hide her jealousy. Chloe tells June that she is using Mark whether she realizes it or not, and toying with his emotions. Mark admits to June that he likes her but she is unsure if she feels the same. They decide to have sex, but the result is not what they expected – it is awful. Meanwhile, James learns that he is on the short list for Martin Scorsese's film "Monte Carlo, Monte Carla" but he may not get the role because Scorsese does not think he is deep enough.

25

18

"Ocupado..."

David Hemingson

Casey Johnson and David Windsor

May 6, 2013 (2013-05-06)(AUS)
August 30, 2014 (US)

2ATF12

N/A

Chloe tells June that Benjamin is going to be in town to shoot a commercial with James. She is excited and has even moved him up to #1 in her guy rotation. June tells Chloe that she has to tell him about her rotation if she really likes him. June recounts her own story about being unaware that the guy she liked was dating another girl. Chloe tells Benjamin that she is dating five other guys, and is surprised when Benjamin tells her that he is also dating five other girls. They bond over this. However, after a they hook up in the bathroom and Benjamin slips and falls, Chloe takes him to the hospital but discovers that his emergency contact is a girl named Melinda, who is number one in his rotation. She is hurt that she is not his number one. June tells her that she understands what she is going through, for the first time Chloe is feeling jealous.

26

19

"Original Bitch..."

Nahnatchka Khan

Corey Nickerson

May 13, 2013 (2013-05-13)(AUS)
September 6, 2014 (US)

2ATF13

N/A

Chloe hires a private investigator to track down the original bitch in Apt 23, Trish, who Chloe has been seeking revenge on since she stole her dream of becoming a dancer on a popular dance show years ago. But when they discover that Trish has died, Chloe cannot let go of wanting to get her vengeance and it begins to haunt her dreams. We enter Chloe’s dream where she must complete challenges in order to reach her goal and overthrow Trish as the top dancer on the TV show. But in this dream, Chloe learns something more important- she needs to trust June as her friend, because while Chloe knows everything about June, June knows nothing about her. Meanwhile in reality, James learns that his father is not his true biological father.

In June 2011, Apartment 23, as it was called at the time, was one of eight honorees in the Most Exciting New Series category at the Critics' Choice Television Awards, voted by journalists who had seen the pilots.[54] The series received positive reviews from critics.[55][56] The first season getting a score of 71 on Metacritic based on 29 critics.[57] On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 91% and the second season has a score of 75%. The site's consensus states: "An odd couple sitcom with a modern twist, Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 is sleeker and smarter than expected, thanks to strong acting and snappy dialogue."[58]

^Ray Ford is credited as a series regular for episodes that were produced for the second season. In select episodes during the second season, he was once again credited as a guest star as six episodes were held from the first season and aired during the season's run.

^Liza Lapira is credited as a guest star for episodes that were produced for the second season. In select episodes during the second season, she was once again credited as a series regular as six episodes were held from the first season and aired during the season's run. It was also announced during the hiatus between seasons that Liza had been demoted to a recurring role; she appeared in two episodes produced for the second season.